# What is this "strange phenomenon" captured in an ice-covered pond? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 7, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-strange-phenomenon-captured-in-an-ice-covered-pond/683132 "2014-03-07T18:23:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-strange-phenomenon-captured-in-an-ice-covered-pond/683132/1 "2014-03-07T18:23:06Z")
This [video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMeoG9ScQ1o) is doing the rounds. (Warning, may have sound/swearing - I have sound turned off on my PC.) It was apparently shot in Lithuania and shows a hole in an ice-covered pond, with a strange pulsating red “something” at the bottom of it. You can see ripples on the surface of the water (eg 1:22 into the video) but no obvious steam. You can also see a frog swimming around towards the end of the video, seemingly unperturbed. I assume it is a warm spring that has melted the ice, and the red stuff is some kind of iron-stained gunk (bacteria/algae) in the spring, being covered and uncovered by the sticks and mud on the bottom of the water. However the ice appears to have been shattered rather violently, rather than melted in a smooth hole like I would expect. Some people seem to think it was a meteorite or something that has deposited the “object” into the pond. What say the Dope? ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2014, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-strange-phenomenon-captured-in-an-ice-covered-pond/683132/2 "2014-03-07T18:51:20Z")
Don’t know Bryozoa? > **[Bryozoa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryozoa)** > > See text. > Ectoprocta (Nitsche, 1869) (formerly subphylum of Bryozoa) > Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals) are a phylum of simple, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary colonies. Typically about .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:... ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2014, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-strange-phenomenon-captured-in-an-ice-covered-pond/683132/3 "2014-03-07T19:57:57Z")
I think it’s a spring that’s bubbling up through the bed of the river/pond through layers of different coloured muds, organic matter and sunken debris. Here’s a similar thing that’s only bubbling through a layer of fairly clean sand: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/nWmI2FDBY0o/hqdefault.jpg "spring water bubbling into pond") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWmI2FDBY0o) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2014, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-strange-phenomenon-captured-in-an-ice-covered-pond/683132/4 "2014-03-07T20:04:11Z")
Okay, it’s a spring. It’s also so creepy it’s going to give me nightmares. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2014, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-strange-phenomenon-captured-in-an-ice-covered-pond/683132/5 "2014-03-07T22:45:55Z")
OK, I think I saw that at the [SCP Foundation](http://www.scp-wiki.net/) page… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-strange-phenomenon-captured-in-an-ice-covered-pond/683132/6 "2014-03-08T02:41:48Z")
Yup, [SCP 354](http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-354). ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-strange-phenomenon-captured-in-an-ice-covered-pond/683132/7 "2014-03-08T03:13:09Z")
I’m surprised no-one attempted to break through the ice and try to get a sample… …you know, like how you go exploring a crashed alien ship, find a bunch leather eggs, one opens up like a flower, and you just gotta stick your face in there to get a better look?😉 ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-strange-phenomenon-captured-in-an-ice-covered-pond/683132/8 "2014-03-08T04:01:49Z")
I don’t know but I am not letting my dog anywhere near it. It looks like a beating and bleeding heart, and it makes me nervous.